Mini Cooper Road Trip Tips

This summer, my boyfriend and I spent 6 weeks taking a cross-country road trip in our new 2010 Mini Cooper S (dark silver with black bonnet stripes). Our trip spanned 10,000 miles, 35 states, several national parks, and countless hours together in the car. We drove on highways, scenic byways, and unpaved back roads. We went camping. And we survived it all in a car that many people would deem too small for a trip as lengthy as ours -- lengthy with respect to both time and distance. I wanted to share some tips that we picked up along the way, in case there's anyone else out there looking to cast aside the world of RVs and SUVs and motor across the country in a Mini Cooper like we did.

Bring Your iPhone

New Minis have built-in auxilliary cords that allow you to plug your iPhone right into the console. Not only does this allow you to charge your iPhone's battery while you're on the road, it also enables you to make hands-free bluetooth calls to anyone in your contact list. But best of all, it gives you the freedom to use various sound-related apps through the Mini's stereo system. For example, you can listen to any kind of music you want using the Pandora app, or you can listen to a live broadcast of a Boston Red Sox game via the MLB.com app no matter where you are in the U.S. I wrote another hub about the apps we used most during our trip, which would be useful in any car, but the ability to plug your iPhone into the Mini brings the phone's usefulness to a whole new level.

Glove Compartment = Air Conditioned Storage

Unless you spend every night in hotels with mini-fridges in the rooms, and freezers in the mini-fridges, you'll inevitably encounter times when your cooler's ice packs are thawed out and your ability to keep food and drinks cold becomes an issue. In those situations, remember that the glove compartment on your Mini (the larger, lower one, if you have a new Mini with 2 glove compartments like we do) has an air conditioning vent inside. We made use of that feature on several occasions when we wanted to keep bottles of water cool, or prevent candy bars from melting. Luckily, the glove compartment is larger than you expect (just like the interior of the Mini itself), so you can fit more than you think in there.

Expect Bug Attacks

Maybe it's because of the angle of the windshield. Or maybe it's because bugs have great taste in cars. Whatever the reason, we found that on certain legs of our journey, we couldn't drive more than 5 minutes without our windshield becoming a splattered mess of dead bugs. Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon and Idaho in particular seemed to be full of huge, juicy, suicidal insects. Neither of us have ever experienced anything like it, but we mastered the art of using gas station squeegees pretty early in the trip. So if you're hitting the road in your Mini during bug season, be prepared to stop often at gas stations to clear a sight line. We learned a great technique from a squeegee master (a high school kid working at a gas station near the Grand Canyon) that helped us get a streak-free shine back to the windshield. When drying the water off after scrubbing the bugs away, start at the bottom of the center of the windshield, then move the squeegee up to the top, then curve over toward your side of the car. Keep making that motion in arcs of decreasing size, until you've reached the bottom corner of your side of the windshield. Repeat the process on the other side of the car, and you should be able to avoid the line of streaks that's often left when you just squeegee straight across from the center to each side.

Use All Available Storage Space

Minis are full of all kinds of nooks and crannies where you can stow things of all shapes and sizes. If you use all available areas, you can fit a surprising amount of stuff in the back of a Mini (assuming there are only 2 of you, and you have the 2 back seats folded down), and you can do it without blocking your sight line out the rear window. We stored travel books, napkins and hand sanitizer in the side panels; flashlights and bug spray on the floor alongside the seats; maps in the pocket on the passenger side floor; sleeping bags behind the seats; and extra flip flops under our seats. We got a lot of amazed looks from people at neighboring tent sites when we'd pull into our campsite and start pulling so much stuff out of the back of such a small car!

Keep Your Mini Atlas Handy

With your owners' manual, you should have a Mini Atlas too.  Although we relied more on our mapping apps on our iPhones for navigation, the Atlas was handy because it included a list of every Mini dealership in every state.  So when the engine started idling funny in Tennessee, it was easy for us to call up the Memphis Mini dealership to talk to them about the problem.  And when it started acting up again in San Francisco, we knew exactly where to go to get it checked out (and fixed).  

Don't Forget Sport Mode

Our Mini is automatic (my boyfriend much prefers stick, but I don't know how to drive it and it's a pain when doing a lot of city driving at home).  It does, however, have something called "Sport Mode," which my boyfriend could explain better than I can.  What I do know is this:  a couple of times when we were on unpaved roads -- either backroads, or roads that were under construction -- we handled them fine while other cars struggled and spun their tires a bit, and it was because we put the Mini in Sport Mode (I think it basically gives you extra juice and better steering response).

If you've gone on a road trip in a Mini Cooper, or if you're planning one, we'd love to hear your thoughts -- let us know your what advice you'd add in the Comments section below!